Games such as handball, paddleball, tennis and the like have been played for many years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,563 to Heftler et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,774 to Nankivell; U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,289 to McAllister; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,589 to Adie et al. However, each of these games generally requires elaborate courts and equipment and the like, in order to be properly played.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,048 to Kienle describes a garage roof party game that can be played on a roof. However, the game uses traps that must be positioned on the roof that can be both difficult and dangerous to position and move. Additionally, Kienle does not offer the speed and agility of the court games previously described. A web site named "www.roofball.com" and another site entitled "www.gedcities.com/capitolhill/lobby/7049/ " describe similar roof games. However, both of these games have very general and loose rules. For example, both games rely on only using one's hand to hit the ball once. Additionally, both games are very loose as to the specific types of roofs that can be used, and can be played on roofs of most shapes and sizes. Additionally, most roofs have obstructions thereon such as chimineys, and the like. Additionally, most roofs have gutters that can obstruct and redirect the balls. Thus these roof games are played on roofs that do not have any uniformity as to playing fields. Thus, these roof games would not allow players to compete fairly at different locations. For example, players using a low roof would have advantages over players using a steep high roof. Players having greater pitched roofs would play differently than roofs having a low pitch. The lack of consistent and uniform rules in both games would not allow the games to be fairly played for nationwide leagues, and the like.